No weirder than my movie dreams starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and just recently, Stephen Colbert. (Who is way hot and sexy, in my opinion and at my age.)

But the dream I had Monday night was merely disturbing and sad. In my dream, my (long-dead) mother and I were housemates somewhere and she told me that she was pregnant. IMD, I realized that this was impossible only because it had been 42 years since her last pregnancy. But IMD, that part was glossed over and the real news was that the baby was a girl and I was going to have a sister and I was so happy, so elated and so joyous.

After more weird and unrelated images, I woke up and was so very sad to realize that it was only a dream. In fact, I was depressed and sick feeling for most of the day.

Then on Thursday, at the liquor store - this is real and not a dream - I got hit on by a younger, good looking man. WTF?

Twenty, even ten years ago, I wouldn't have been surprised because I was once cute, way back then. However, the way I look and feel now? What sort of sane, young person would look at me twice? Of course, he may have been insane, drunk, fucked up and/or horny.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Today's news flash. Got a foot whacked off my hair and feel so much better. The length had gotten unmanageable. Combing out and washing was becoming a chore and easy care was the whole idea of having it long.

Funny thing is, I put it up on top of my head afterwards, in my usual manner, and it looks the same. Go fig.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Sweetie loses his job and the universe collapses around us. Not really, but the coincidence is annoying and costly. The water line is still leaking and the central air went out over the weekend. The repairman fixed it today and we are thankful that they allowed us a ten year warranty at installation and it is good through November 2012.

I have been sick from the sudden heat wave of 90 degree temperatures and high humidity. It has been hard for me to do much of anything.

The water line is to be replaced, which means the expense of a backhoe to excavate and the inherent mess. We have bought the necessary pipe and fittings, and even acquired an enormous amount of wood chips to line the trench for free.

All of AnnaBelle's babies died and not for lack of our best efforts. She shall not be bred again under any circumstances.

There is good news on other fronts, however. The Woolery ordered 4 pounds of Bunny & The Beast and I am working on that. Now I can do it in air conditioning. Angora sticks to sweaty hands like white on rice. Also, did I mention how sick I was with the heat?

On the plus side, my asthma has been controlled by new medz. Albuterol in pill form and Advair, courtesy of Good Neighbor Nancy. The prescription for it is way costly, but Sweetie's sister can get it for me for $30 a month. Yeah.

Also, Princess is still being a good dog and she had even perked up Buster, who is still among the barely living.

The chickens are still a hoot and a half. There is the one dominant rooster who, when I enter his domain, postures and struts. He will pick up any handy stick or stone, repeatedly while looking at me, trying to act the tough guy. Like, "I'm bad. Don't mess with me." Cracks me up.

Sweetie has been doing all sorts of chores and tasks around the house. He put down the floor tiles (that we bought last year,) in the bathroom over the weekend. Gawd, it looks great!

His unemployment benefits denial is now in appeal. It will take another month for any judgement.

The Friendship Spinners' retreat was this past weekend and I had a very good time. Having my own little cell and three meals a day were quite excellent, as was the company of my friends, some of whom I hadn't seen enough of recently.

I took fiber and needles and two spinning wheels to sell and made enough money to keep me and Sweetie in groceries and utilities for the next 6-8 weeks. That was a major stress relief, let me tol' ya.

Gotta go, as we are going to the local Lion's dinner meeting. Sigh. It's a networking-occasion-for-Sweetie ordeal that I will grudgingly suffer for his sake.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Just home from the Friendship Spinners' retreat at the St. Meinrad Archabbey and checked my email. I can't write coherently right now, but I had to share this little gem. May I present, Bunnies in Space.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

I have this issue weighing on my mind, especially since the recent puppy mill bust in Harrison County.

I know of a bunny mill that operates here in Harrison County. I had occasion to strike up a conversation with a person that shows angora bunnies, and I visited her. Let me say that I was appalled at the conditions that the poor things were living in. The bunny house was not large, maybe 12" x 15", with no ventilation. There were over 30 bunnies housed there, in cages stacked three and four high, with poop overflowing. My allergies were bad so that I could not smell what was probably an oppressive aroma of ammonia in that enclosed space.

Sometimes, I feel bad that my barn bunnies are in 24"x30" suspended cages. This woman made me feel better. At least my bunnies are not subjected to rising piles of poop and the caustic smell of urine in their small cages. Also, I visited her at three in the afternoon, and she said it was the first time she had been to see them that day. I tend to my bunnies twice a day, every day, making sure they have clean water, pellets, hay, and the occasional treat. That is the least I can do for them.

She keeps not only angoras, but netherland dwarves and dwarf hotoes, which she sells to 4H-ers. She loves to show her angoras but isn't crazy about the breeding aspect, which she farms out. She has one friend that breeds angoras. He culls (kills) those bunnies that are not up to "breed standard." I told her that I would take any bunny that he was ready to kill and so got Dexter, a great wooler with an excellent temperament but who unfortunately had hind feet that splayed "just a bit too much." Oh, is that worthy of a death sentence?

Long story short. I am sure this isn't a rarity, but I want to do something to stop her and others. Any ideas? It was too hard for the local officials to close a puppy mill with 240 animals. So hard, in fact, that the state attorney general had to get the operators on tax evasion. I can't realistically expect them to be concerned with a small bunny mill operation. Hell, they can't even keep up with the meth labs in the county.

Like I said, this has been weighing on my mind. NancyNeverSwept suggested petitioning the National Angora Breeders of America to adopt minimum standards of care. I shall do this, as I became a member last year.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

No, about 31 days ago, Bunny AnnaBelle was allowed to roam in the back yard enclosure for a day or two, because Sweetie thought it would "be good for her." It was long enough for an outside bunny, most likely Smokey, to call on her in a gentlemanly way.

Me, I had no idea.

I found the little guys in a half-assed nest of fur and hay, which was better than mom had made last time, shortly after their birth. I brought them inside, as AnnaBelle was in the Palatial Summer Cottage with five other bunny girls. Two of the kits that I thought wouldn't last the morning are hanging in there and still alive this evening. I have brought mom inside to nurse them, which has happened, and so we shall see what happens.

Smokey's mother is Claudia, a Netherland Dwarf, and his daddy was an angora. (Percival? I can't remember.) So I have no idea what these little babies will grow up to be. One is definitely black and three are white. The other two are the iffy ones and I cannot make any predictions about them. They may or may not be fuzzy, or small.

Princess is making herself at home. What a good dog she is.

And the socks? I unraveled them. They were too small and wouldn't go over my heel. Sigh.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Almost finished with the heel flaps. This is being an enjoyable knit, even though if one drops a stitch, there is hell to pay. The yarn is slippery and the metal needles are small and slippery and I am knitting tight. Otherwise, lots o' fun. Srsly.

Princess is the most obedient pup I have ever had. Learned that she had spent her entire life either caged inside or tied up outside, so maybe she is just so happy to have free run of a house. I have started letting her out sans leash for pee breaks and she comes right back when called. Of course, she gets a little treat for doing so. Inside, she is either on the floor or couch or bed, right beside me and if I stir, she is on my heels. She doesn't bark, pester Buster or the cats, or chew. Perfect! Less trouble than Heizen.

Sweetie has been in JawJa this week visiting with his mom'n'em. Received a letter from the unemployment office that his benefits claim has been denied and had to relay that news to him today. He has the right to appeal. I thought that there would be an actual hearing for this sort of thing. Sweetie is pretty damned torqued over this latest turn. He has some aces up his sleeve, apparently, having to do with Department of Health violations. Won't help his case, but will make him feel better.

I'm staying out of it. Because, you know, I have knitting to soothe my nerves.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Sweetie has been home and on the computer a lot, looking and applying for work. And just surfing, too. Making up for lost time. I was busy getting ready for, and not posting about, the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival. I have no business sense sometimes.

So much of what I would say if I did blog it sounds so repetitive to my own ears. Clipping bunnies and the outside bunnies that go missing or are found dead. (Doody-Head found with a bit of "clover" still in his mouth. It was, in fact, oxalis. Poison like rhubarb leaves.) It becomes harder and harder to get attached to them and I don't like being cavalier when they go, but otherwise? I would be crying more than I already do over them. My friend NancyNeverSwept says that bunnies are like potato chips in the animal kingdom. Snacks, in other words. She is right. One six week old white baby was a snack, or maybe an entire meal, for some bird of prey earlier this week. The neighbor girls found its remains and we built a funeral pyre for it. A lesson in the circle of life.

Then there is the new dog we have taken in. Princess is a very good girl, if somewhat timid. I reckon she is about 2 years old and lived with Neighbor Nancy's ex-whatever all her life. This morning I discovered tapeworms in her poop. Life is fun! Fortunately, I had medicine on hand, in the right dosage, because this shit happens. All it takes is one flea eaten.

Then there are the two neighbor girls, who have made their second home here. I am not used to having little kids around. At all. But then again, they are really good girls (mostly) and when they become too rambunctious or obnoxious, I send them home. The oldest, Lezlie, has taken to borrowing our camera and taking pictures. She is six. This is her shot from our front porch yesterday.

And it has turned Suddenly Summer. Hot and humid, or rainy and even more humid. We are in conservation mode and have not turned on the AC yet this year, although my breathing make make it imperative shortly.

Visited my doctor yesterday in hopes of finding generic alternatives for both my asthma and mental pills, and she obliged even though I had to tell her about the pill form of albutural which Walgreens offers for $12 for a three month supply.

Oh, and we have a water leak between the meter and the house and until funds appear miraculously to replace the line, we are living on one or two hours of running water each day. Just one more thing to deal with.

So, life has been filled with my mundanity.

Except for the garden! I have ten tomato plants of various sorts, onions, sunflowers, and zucchini! The little corral of compost seemed so desolate back in early March, but now look at it!

And I cannot forget the chickens, who have given me and Sweetie so much delight - in spite of the six a.m. crow-fest. The bantys are not picking on the Lady Bird and Miss Biddy so much anymore, as they are almost the size of the roosters and soon shall surpass them in height and breadth. Payback may be hell.

Heizen spends his days inside their tractor/coop which just crackers me up. But really, it is cool and secure and he has his window on the world.